Director of Development

Director Of Development

Right To Start is seeking an experienced Director Of Development to lead, grow, and diversify the organization's fundraising efforts. Reporting directly to the Office Of The CEO, the Director will manage all revenue operations, oversee institutional funder and individual donor pipelines, coordinate funder and donor communications, and ensure the organization meets its annual fundraising goals.

This role requires a detail-oriented professional who excels at behind-the-scenes execution, preparing and writing high-quality proposals, managing funder and donor relationships and systems, coordinating funder deliverables and reports, and ensuring timely, accurate, and compelling communications. The Director will own the full development funnel in our Customer Relationship Management system (Monday.com), where data entry, accuracy, tracking, and oversight are paramount.

The ideal candidate brings strong writing skills, operational precision, disciplined follow-through, and the ability to clearly convey Right To Start's mission and impact through strong writing and well-crafted materials (including grant proposals and pitch decks), organized systems, and consistent data management. The Director will maintain strong relationships and communications with philanthropic and corporate funders and individual donors while ensuring the internal structure and accountability needed to sustain and grow revenue.

Primary Responsibilities

Pipeline Ownership

• Own the full revenue pipeline end-to-end, including researching, prospecting, engagement, execution, and follow-through on all contacts; maintain and utilize the CRM for all institutional funders and major donor prospects; rigorously track fundraising performance; and ensure consistent progress toward organizational revenue targets.
• Lead and execute fundraising initiatives targeting foundations, corporations, and high-net-worth individuals with a clear focus on securing a minimum of $3 million in annual revenue.
• Provide ongoing analysis against fundraising goals and recommendations to the Office of the CEO.
• Drive all prospective lead development with proactive, energetic, thoughtful, and timely follow-up.
• Manage timelines to ensure that deadlines are achieved on time, including grant proposal deadline dates, renewal of expiring grants/contracts, and reporting requirement dates, and flagging impending deadlines to organizational leadership in advance to drive needed responses.

Institutional Funding: Grants & Reporting

• Drive the researching, prospecting, development, writing, and execution of on-time, high-quality grant proposals to philanthropies that sell the organization's unique programs and products.
• Write high-quality grant reports to philanthropies that detail programmatic progress, financial expenditures, and the resulting impact on our organizational goals and strategy.
• Work across teams to gather compelling data, budget narratives, metrics, and success stories necessary to manage funder deliverables and proposals.

Individual Donors

• Build and manage a targeted individual donor program, aiming to secure at least 10 major donations (at least $10,000 or above) in the first year.
• Cultivate, solicit, and steward major individual donors through tailored communications and relationship-building.
• Coordinate the annual individual donor retreat, including planning, logistics, agenda development, communications, and execution to ensure a high-quality experience for major donors and key supporters.

Corporate Partnerships

• Identify, cultivate, and secure mission-aligned corporate partnerships.
• Develop sponsorship or collaboration proposals that clearly articulate shared value and measurable impact.
• Craft partnership agreements and coordinate all necessary reviews and approvals with the Office of the CEO.

Learning Collaborative (Right To Start's funder network)

• Manage the Learning Collaborative, Right To Start's full network of funders – a group committed to learning alongside us as we grow and advancing entrepreneurial opportunity nationwide.
• Design and deliver quarterly updates to the Learning Collaborative with insights on progress, impact, and strategic direction.
• Organize biannual online convenings with the Learning Collaborative to discuss shared learnings, strengthen funder relationships, and share organizational updates and progress. Develop all Learning Collaborative content and materials, including update summaries, meeting decks, and visual assets, using Right To Start's approved design tools (e.g., Canva).
• Own the Learning Collaborative funnel within Monday.com, including entering data, maintaining accuracy, tracking engagement, and ensuring complete, up-to-date CRM records.
• Manage all data associated with the Learning Collaborative, including funder participation, revenue projections, meeting notes, and follow-ups.

Communications & Relationship Management

• Maintain regular communications with philanthropic and corporate funders and individual donors and ensure they have a clear understanding of goals, expectations, and deliverables and to ensure they feel informed and valued.
• Work cross-functionally to ensure successful execution of funder and donor commitments.
• Oversee pitch decks, funder materials, and related deliverables, ensuring they are high-quality, well-designed, and aligned with Right To Start's messaging and brand standards.
• Organize and maintain a detailed communications cadence with all institutional funders and individual donors.
• Develop materials (reports, decks, emails, one-pagers, etc.) that clearly articulate the value of institutional funder and individual donor investments and the impact of Right To Start's work.
• Ensure funder and donor communications are timely, polished, and aligned with organizational strategy, messaging, and programs.

Cross-Team Collaboration & Strategic Support

• Collaborate with Communications, Field, Policy, Operations, and Finance teams to collect insights, metrics, stories, and budget narratives for proposals and reporting.
• Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Office of the CEO, providing insights on funding opportunities and trends.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• You can drive fundraising results.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in fundraising, philanthropy, development, marketing, sales, wealth advisory, or a related field.
• A bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience).
• Comfort with donor-facing conversations as well as behind-the-scenes execution.
• A track record of fundraising success with philanthropic foundations, corporate partners, and/or individual donors.
• The ability to articulate our mission and impact to potential funders and donors.
• Excellent communication (both written and verbal) and relationship-building skills.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Experience using a CRM.
• Ability to travel domestically up to 30% time for donor meetings, events, partnerships, and other related organizational meetings.

Who You Are

• Highly entrepreneurial, with a dynamic "get the job done" spirit.
• Cares deeply about everyday people trying to start and grow businesses, especially those whose voices are often unheard.
• Understands that the real day-to-day work of business is quiet, hard, and does not make headlines.
• Possess personal qualities of humility, integrity, dependability.
• Able to work effectively with people across highly diverse backgrounds, geographies, and ideologies.
• Self-directed, dedicated, motivated, and disciplined, especially in a remote work environment where one is expected to perform at a high level without monitoring.
• Very strong writer.

What We Offer

• Highly flexible remote work arrangements (live anywhere)
• Highly flexible hours (no fixed office hours; but we schedule regular online virtual meetings and quarterly in-person team retreats)
• Comprehensive insurance: medical, dental, vision
• 401(k) benefits
• Competitive salary
• Annual Remote Work Stipend to cover office-related costs, such as internet connection, coworking space, and computer/phone equipment (currently $3,000 per year)
• Flexible vacation policy and generous holiday observances
• Family leave

Our Principles

1. Everyone has a fundamental Right To Start.

We have the right to pursue our entrepreneurial dreams and shape the destiny of our own lives.

1. We must protect and nourish starters.

Society should provide equal access to resources for all of us to start and grow.

1. To level the playing field, tilt it.

Americans don't seek